This invention relates to swimming pool gutters and, more particularly, to a deep-walled sheet metal gutter having a combined filtered water inlet conduit.
The gutter system is one of the most important elements of swimming pool design, construction, and operation. The gutter must not only perform its intended function of continuously skimming the pool to keep the pool clear of dirt and debris but it must also be pleasing in appearance and add to the aesthetic appeal of the pool. In addition, the gutter system is one of the most significant factors in the cost of building the pool. That is, gutters are typically formed from performed sheets of a corrosion resistant metal such as stainless steel and aluminum, which are welded together either at the factory or at the pool site. The cost of forming the sheets and of welding them together at either the factory or the pool site contributes greatly to the cost of the pool. The design of the gutter is thus an important factor in the overall cost of the pool.
Prior to the Ogden Patent, U.S. Pat. No. 2,932,397, the plumbing for swimming pools had usually been buried in the soil surrounding the swimming pool, that is, the conduits for filtered water were located well below ground and included a main conduit extending around the perimeter of the pool and spaced outlet conduits connected from the main conduit to the wall of the swimming pool, usually spaced down several feet from the top of the swimming pool. Further, gutters usually were provided with drains spaced every 20 feet or so, the drains having conduits connecting them for the flow of water from the gutter back to the filter.
The Ogden invention substantially eliminated all of the underground plumbing by providing a gutter extending around the perimeter of the pool, one of the walls of the gutter (preferably the inner wall of the gutter) being formed as a filtered or fresh water conduit, the conduit having outlets spaced around the pool to direct water from the conduit downwardly into the pool. This system which permits the plumbing to be exposed for ease of installation and repair has enjoyed wide spread acceptance.
In the present practice of making and installing the system, a gutter coping including an upstanding wall and a horizontal bottom wall have been factory formed and installed at the site of the pool. A conduit has also been factory formed from a channel to which a plate has been welded along two continuous welds to close the channel and form the conduit. That conduit, as the inner wall of the gutter, is welded along a continuous line at the site of the pool to the previously formed and installed coping to complete the installation of the gutter. The gutter and coping are usually formed in short sections as, for example, 10 feet sections, and are transversely welded at the site in order to form the continuous gutter for pools which are at least 25 meters in length and 42 feet wide. After installation, the conduit is filled with water under high pressure to see whether any leaks have been created through the welding process. Any leaks appearing are immediately repaired.
While the foregoing installation methods and structures have been used in hundreds of pools and have been considered to be a vast improvement over practices prior to the Ogden patent, they nevertheless have given rise to some problems which the present invention seeks to eliminate.
First, the structure necessarily results in concealed inaccessible welds. As stated above, adjacent short sections are transversely welded together and the composite conduit is then welded to the coping. At each place where a transverse weld overlies the coping to which the conduit is attached, that section of transverse weld is inaccessible. Should a leak develop in the transverse weld, it would be difficult to detect in the first place and when detected, it would be difficult to repair because of its inaccessibility. In addition, when the conduit is mounted in place overlying a concrete pool wall, for example, at least one of the two continuous welds sealing the conduit, the outer one, becomes concealed by the concrete or other underlying material. Should a leak develop along that weld, after installation, it too would be difficult to locate and repair. Moreover, the structure presents welding difficulties which require the use of skillful, experienced welders to make straight, true installations at the site of the pool thereby adding to the cost of construction.
Second, the structure is relatively shallow and has little capacity for accommodating surges or waves in the pool. The gutter system described in the Ogden patent is a perimeter gutter that provides for a continuous skimming flow of water over the top of the gutter wall into the gutter trough. Under normal conditions, the gutter provides efficient skimming action. However, when a heavy surge of water or a wave is encountered, as occurs when a group of swimmers enters the pool, the additional flow of water over the top of the gutter exceeds the gutter's capacity to drain the water away and results in flooding of the gutter and backwashing of the debris in the gutter into the pool.
Various attempts have been made to design gutters having the capacity to accommodate surges and waves without flooding. Typical are those gutters described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,668,712; 3,668,714; and 3,815,160; all to Baker. Although these gutters are designed to provide for skimming action without flooding under surge conditions, they are complicated in construction and require a number of sheet metal elements which must be welded together resulting in the need for a number of welds some of which are hidden and inaccessible.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a new method of forming a gutter conduit system of the type disclosed in the Ogden patent which not only eliminates the disadvantages of the practices described above but which additionally introduces considerable economies into the swimming pool construction and introduces surge capacity into the gutter itself. More specifically, the present invention allows the construction of a relatively deep-walled swimming pool gutter having a combined filtered water inlet conduit from sheet metal of standard width on conventional sheet metal forming equipment.
Another object of the invention is to provide a swimming pool gutter having the advantages described above which requires only two continuous welds which are exposed and readily accessible such that leaks occurring during construction may be easily seen and repaired.
Another object of the invention is to provide a swimming pool gutter wherein the required welding is easier and requires less in the way of skills in the welder than has heretofore been available.
Another object of the invention is to provide a swimming pool gutter wherein the preformed gutter elements have mostly square corners thereby allowing convenient stacking of the elements for storage and transportation.
Another object of the invention is to provide a swimming pool gutter wherein the inside wall of the filtered water inlet conduit has a V-shaped recess for conveniently directing water upwardly or downwardly into the pool without the necessity of welding a plate to the inlet conduit.